Well, I was hoping this day would never come, but I must part ways with my ol' 1963 short bed, fleetside pickup. She has been my daily driver for the past 8 years or so, but due to some unfortunate financial troubles, I must let her go. I'll probably end up putting her on the 'bay soon, but wanted to give you guys first crack at her, since I'd much rather her end up in the hands of a collector/restorer than some teenager that'll end up trashing her. Story behind the old gal is fairly simple. I traded an old Nissan pickup to the former owner for it, since he was wanting to make a hotrod and decided he could do it with the Nissan easier than the '63. I wanted to do a sort of custom-restore job, but had my work cut out for me. Most of her life she was an Oklahoma truck, but has resided in Iowa for the past 3 years. (I even still have the original Oklahoma 1963 Farm Truck license plate) He had put a Corvette LT1 350 (from a '69 vette) in it, with a slightly better than mild cam, and a TH350 auto tranny. The thing definately had some power to it. Unfortunately, he also cut a hole in the hood and placed a really ugly scoop on it. Inside, he had spray-painted some of the various parts with a really odd purple/burgundy color and installed a burgundy 60/40 bench seat from an '88 Chevy. He took all the wood out of the bed, and removed all the chrome trim from the sides, and THREW IT AWAY!!! I'll never understand that. Anyway, since I've had it, the 350 finally wore out (I put a LOT of miles on it) and the TH350 trans he had installed lost 3rd gear. I replaced the transmission with another TH350, and the engine with a 305 from an '85 Caprice. It has a freshly rebuilt Holley made Rochester replacement carburetor (which works better than any Holley 600 or Edelbrock 650 I've ever used) and runs flawlessly. I have done a lot to the interior, including repainting most of the purple stuff with a nicer shade of red, I put new carpeting in it (did it myself, so it's not professional. Still looks nice, though) and traded the seats out for a set of buckets with integrated seatbelts from a 2002 GMC. Also has a B&M Starshifter to help throw those gears. I rebuilt the instrument cluster, since the old gauges he used never worked right, and even though it doesn't have a speedometer right now, the tach will tell you how fast you're going if you know how to read it. All in all, the interior is in really nice condition, and a joy to ride in. The exhaust consists of Heddman Headers, dual Flowmaster mufflers, and 3" exhaust dumped just before the rear axle. It's loud, but sounds really nice! The exterior is a little rough, but completely restoreable. There is the usual rust in the standard places, such as the rear of the front fenders, and the driver's side rocker panel. The bedsides are fairly straight, but will need a little work to be show-quality. There is a diamond-plate toolbox on the bed, and a drop-in bedliner so that the bed is still useable. There are two cracks in the windshield, but the rest of the glass is perfect. The grille and all lights are in perfect shape (little surface rust on grille, but sand and paint will fix that). The wheels are from a mid '80s K-5 Blazer and look nice, the tires are Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's and are brand new. (I maybe put 100 miles on them since purchase) All in all, even though it's in black primer right now, the truck is DEFINATELY a head turner. The only thing that keeps her from being driveable right now is, I had to replace the rubber lines on the brakes, a few of the steel lines, but I never got a chance to get the brakes bled properly. It runs and drives perfect, it just doesn't stop right now... heh. It does have power brakes, by the way, and all 4 wheel cylinders were rebuilt about a year ago. A good fluid flush and fill would fix that right up. With a little body work, some paint, and putting new trim on this old gal, she'd make someone a VERY beautiful custom Chevy. I hate to see her go, but I hope someone out there will enjoy her as much as I have over the years. She does have current Iowa tags. My asking price for her was originally $5,500, but since the brakes need a little work, I'll take $5,000. The price IS negotiable, but I think it's a fair one for the time and work that's been put into her. [img src=http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/Grey_Wolverine/Truck/MVC-004F.jpg" width="50" height="37] You can email me to request more photos and I'll be happy to send them to you. Send any requests/questions to me at j_macgyver@hotmail.com , and I'll be happy to answer anything you may need. I check my email daily, so you should get a prompt reply.
I forgot to mention, whoever buys this truck also gets the LT1 350 engine. It has been partially disassembled, and the heads will need a thorough cleaning before use. The block is still good, it's been bored .060 over, but still has good walls. The only thing wrong with the engine itself is it needs to be re-ringed and have new bearings installed. I had plans to do this myself, but never seem to have the time or the money to do it. I still have the Edelbrock Performer aluminum intake I pulled off it, as well. I've got some extra misc. parts here and there that I'll include, such as two of the original steel rims, that will also go with the truck. I'll check and see what else I can find in my garage that may be of interest to a potential buyer. Thanks for looking!
